If you have the idea of using your phone behind the wheel or not wearing a seatbelt, think again.

New high-tech speed cameras can pick up on such detail, including if you're eating and drinking at the wheel.

They have such high-definition imagery they can pick up on all sorts of offences, as well as their main purpose- to catch drivers breaking speed limits.

LED equipment, which accompanies the new cameras, is positioned 20 yards away facing oncoming traffic.

You could also be slapped with a fine if you're caught out scoffing food, drinking or smoking when you're meant to be concentrating on the road.

They have just been rolled out by the Devon and Cornwall Speed Camera Partnership and this is all we know.

How do average speed cameras work?

The multiple cameras (at least two) are set at separate locations along a stretch of road (at a minimum 200m apart) and are synchronised to record the exact time that each car passes using number plate reading technology.

Then a computer will work out the average speed between the cameras to determine if the car was over the speed limit.

Some people wrongly think that each camera records a driver's speed as they pass each camera before the computer works out the average speed as the car passed every camera - this explains why some drivers think they can speed up between the cameras and slow down as they pass them.

It's not just speeding the cameras now look out for (Image: Erin Black)

But doing this is likely to land you with a fine - the cameras simply record the time you pass them and the computer works out how long it has taken you to pass the distance between them.

Do the cameras work at night?

Yes. They are fitted with infra red illuminators to ensure they work night and day, and all weathers.

Can the cameras run out of film?

No. Unlike some other speed cameras, average speed camera information is saved to a computer.

If a driver passes more than two sets of average speed cameras in a sequence while over the speed limit, will they be fined more than once?

This is unlikely. Only certain cameras in the sequence are usually 'paired', so where, for example, there are four in a sequence it may be your speed between the first and third that is recorded, or the second and fourth or first and fourth, and so on.

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But you will not know which ones are recording your number plate at any time.

Where there are separate sections of the same road where average speed camera zones are in force, however, a driver would be committing separate offences by speeding through each one.

If you are less than 10 per cent above the limit, will you get a ticket?

It has been commonly assumed by many drivers over the years that you will not get a ticket so long as your speed does not exceed the limit by more than 10 per cent plus 2mph. This is because of guidance to officers from the National Police Chiefs Council.

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Several police forces nationwide have indicated that drivers can expect far less leeway, as cameras become more accurate - and the law states that a driver can receive a ticket as soon as they have exceeded the limit, even if it is only by 1mph.

How can you avoid getting a fine?

There is only one way to be sure that you do not get a ticket from average speed cameras - and that is to drive without speeding.